Dual wheel vehicle



April 1 J. 1 CASTELLANO 2.237.547

} DQAL WHEEL VEHICLE Filed July 2, 1933 2 Shets-Sheet 1 k \)l \y w I I;

4,, II 6 7- M 15 ,2 as: 6/ 2 A ril 8, 1941. J, P. cAs'rLLANo DUAL WHEEL VEHICLE Filed July 2, 1938 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 ,d MW ATTORNEYS l atcntcd Apr. 8, 1941 arnsn I near. wanna venrcrn .loseph ii ilastellano, hroolriyn, hl. ill, asslynor to lhilicrential Wheel tlorporation, lilcw Yorlr,

h a corporation oi Welaware application has a, rate, senators. claim 3 @lalmsi -.provements herein shown and described.

The accompanying drawings, referred to herein and constitutinga part hereof, illustrate one emhodiment oi the invention, and together with the description, serve to ertplain the principles oi the invention.

Uri the drawings:

lll lg. l. is a longitudinal section through a mechanism emhodying the invention; and

it is a vertical section on line i--t oi Fig. l. v tihiects oi the invention are to provide a novel and useiul driving or traction dual wheel mechanism wherein looth wheels are locked together when. the motor is driving or errerting tractive eilort and also when the hralres are applied, hut

the side icy side wheels are permitted to rotate independently whenever there is no drive from the motor and the hraltes are hit. Thus the drivhia' tractlve efiort and the retardant tractive action oi the loralres are distributed to hoth tires, and at other times the tree rotation all truth wheels minimises the wear on the tires. a nu their oloiect is to provide simple and sturdy mechniam ior edecting the purposes stated which is dimple and, economical to manuiacture and delnhle, and is well ahle to withstand the strains and loads oi active commercial service.

llllll'th these and other objects in view a trac llton cnerting dual wheel assembly is provided wherein a driving aide shaft is connected to positively drive one oi said wheels, which wheel is also provided with a hrake mechanism, and there is a clutch mechanism hetween the two wheels, which is actuated to'connect the driven and nondriven wheels when the axle is driving, and also when the hr'ake' is applied,'and is actuated to disconnect the two wheels at other times so that More in detail, the driving axle has an singularly protecting arm which engages and actuates a elutch controlllne arm mounted on the hub or (iii. ltdm) iii the driven (inhoardl wheel, and connected so that the wheel is positively driven by the shaft. Said clutch controlling arm is pivotally mounted on the wheel huh to have limited angular movement in hoth directions, these movements operating the clutch mechanism hetween the two wheels, the arm heing spring impelled toward the non-clutching position. The clutch. mechanism is oi the eapanding shoe type, and comprises a drum mounted on the hut oi the non-driven wheel and within the drum an annular shoe which is expanded to clutch the drum hy movement oi the aioresaid aneularly-movahle arm. "the arm is moved in one direction to actuate the clutch hy the drive on the axle, and is moved in the opposite direction to actuate the clutch by l the retardation oi the wheel hralre mechanism, and the arm is returned hy its spring to nonclutching position whenever there is no drive on the shait and the hralre on. lit will he understood that the ioregoingigeneral description and the iollowlng detail description as well are errplanatory and exemplary hut are not restrictive oi the invention.

deterring now in detail to the embodiment oi the invention illustrated lay-way of example in the accompanying draodngs, a driving aide shaft l is mounted in an aide housing The short is driven lay any suitahle means, such as a clutteredtial drive (not shown) and its outer end is journaled in a sleeve mounted in the outer end oi the housing t. ialounted on the housing ii are comhined radial and thrust anti-iriction hearings and l. The inner raceways ll and respectively, are mounted on the housing 2, the race way a shutting on an annular shoulder it termed on the housing, and raceway ll lacing held in p0- sltion lay a loch nut ll screw-threaded on to the outer end oi the housing t. 'lihe outer raceways it and it, respectively, ahut on annular rings it and it termed on the hollow interior of the hub oi the inhoard wheel. it.

llvheel it has a large outwardly extending huh ti, and the outhoard wheel at has a huh it mounted enteriorly on the huh it of the inboard wheel, with a sleeve ll l interposed. at the inner lid ' they will rotate independently or each other.

end oi the sleeve it is a hat iriction ring iii, abutting on a shoulder it iormed on the outer face oi the inboard wheel it, and at the outer end of sleeve it is a friction ring ill, held in place by a loclr nut it, screw threaded onto the huh it oi the inboard wheel it. an oil seal it is provided near the end of the huh opening.

In the embodied term, means are provided whereby the inboard wheel it is continuously in driving connection with the axle I, and the outboard wheel is clutched to and declutched from the inboard wheel, being clutched when the motor is driving or the vehicle brake is applied, and being declutched when the brake is off. In said embodied form, the outer end of axle I projects beyond the end of housing 2 and integral with or fixed to the axle end is a short arm 33, which always turns with the axle. The outer end of the arm 33 projects into a Y-shaped recess 34, formed in the inner end of a clutch-controlling lever 35. The lever 35 is pivoted on a stub shaft 35, mounted on the face of the hub 2| of the inboard wheel IS, the outer end of stub shaft 35 being mounted in a cover plate 31, which covers the recessed outer face of the hub 2|, and is fixed thereto by bolts 38. Formed on the outer face of the outboard wheel 22 is a drum 43, and mounted within the drum is a cleft or interrupted annular frictional clutching shoe 44,

ated and controlled by the outer end 45 of lever rotates lever a very little, and thus expands shoe 44 which immediately engages drum 43, thereby stopping further relative movement of arm 33 and lever 35 and clutching the two wheels together. This condition remains as long as the motor continues to exert torque on the wheels. On cessation of the torque, spring 53 contracts shoe 44, and declutches the outboard wheel, leaving the wheels free for independent rotation, and at the same time the arm 33 and lever 35 move back to their substantially radial position. If the brake be applied to the inboard wheel 15, the stub shaft 35 will be moved relative to arm 33, but in the opposite direction, due to the retardant action of the brake, and lever 35 will be thereby rocked slightly and will cause the shoe 44 to engage the drum 43, thereby locking the wheels together as previously described. They will continue thus locked together during the continuance of the braking action, but as soon as the brake is released the parts, under the action of spring 53, will return to the declutched position as before described.

The invention in its broader aspects is not limited'to thespecific mechanisms shown and described but departures may be made therefrom within the scope of the accompanying The parts are constructed, disposed and proslightly in either direction, clutch shoe 44 is 40 expanded and engages the drum 43, and thereby clutches the two wheels so that they rotate together. The shoe 44 is engaged substantially centrally of its circumference by a holding bracket 5|, having a foot 52 pressing the shoe at its central point firmly against the drum 43, the bracket 5| being mounted at 52 on the plate 31 which is fixed to the face 2| of the inboard wheel. The ends of the shoe 44 are resiliently drawn toward the declutched position by a tension coil spring 53. Resilient means are provided for normally impelling the lever 35 towards the straight or radial and declutching position. As embodied, a U-spring 51 is mounted about the curved end of the arm 33 and its leaves 53 and 59 press at either side upon curved surfaces formed on either side of the inner end of lever 35. The leaves of spring 51 are held in resilient engagement with the lever 35 by means of stops to and BI, which may be adjustable,

being restrained against extreme movement.

Lever 35 is pivoted on pin 33 which projects from hub 2| of the wheel I5 so that the drivin force is transmitted directly to the wheel.

Thus when shaft I is being driven, arm 33 claims without departing from the principles of the invention and without sacrificing its chief advantages.

What I claim is:

1. A vehicular dual wheel assembly including in combination a driving axle shaft, an inboard wheel journalled on the housing, and having an outwardly projecting hub, an outboard wheel journalled on the hub of the inboard wheel, a brake drum fixed to the inboard wheel, a drum fixed to the outboard wheel, an expansible and contracta'ble clutching shoe within said drum, a lever pivotally mounted on the hub of the inboard wheel and adapted to move the shoe into clutching position by movement in either direction, spring means impellingthe shoe and lever 'to non-clutching position, and an arm fixed to said axle shaft and connected to rock the lever,

whereby the wheels are connected to rotate together when the axle is driving or the brake is applied and are disconnected to rotate freely at other times.

2. A vehicular dual wheel assembly including in combination a driving shaft, two wheels mounted on the shaft and capable of independent rotation, connections from the shaft for positively driv one of said wheels, a brake mechanism. a member moved by application of the brake with the vehicle in motion and means actuated by said member for connecting the driven wheel and the other wheel when the brake is applied.

3. A vehicular dual wheel assembly including in combination a driving shaft, two side by side wheels mounted for independent relative rotation thereon, a normally released clutch for preventing relative rotation of-the wheels, a yielding connection between one of the wheels and the shaft and means interconnecting the clutch and yielding connection for actuating the clutch.

JOSEPH P. CASTELLANO. 

